Tag Archives: adaptation

So I’ve been absent from the blog for awhile. I’ve actually had a few posts ready to submit, but I just haven’t. It’s always difficult, because I am such a private person, and sometimes struggle with the idea of posting everything on social media. But then I remember I love blogging and instagram and just want to live my life and the haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate. I’ve also been busy trying to get my shit together (excuse my french), which hasn’t exactly happened but I think things are falling into place kind of, maybe. I’m currently back in Cincinnati, OH, for the first time in 6 years! It’s crazy being home, because nothing has really changed, except I’m 24 now and could use a bigger selection of young, single men here, not the suburban dads; but the suburban moms like to drink wine so we get along fine.

The last really hip passport picture I got to take on my travels home in August

Anyways, after spending the summer in England, I returned to the USA on a high from traveling, making international friends, a crazy summer in England, and a plane ticket back to Madrid already booked. Well, home was a wake up call, and I panicked and decided I wanted to apply to grad school while my MCAT scores were still valid (I CAN’T TAKE THAT AWFUL, LIFE RUINING TEST AGAIN), so on September 22, the day my flight was scheduled to go to Madrid, I got my wisdom teeth out. If that doesn’t explain reality coming crashing down and slapping you in the face and making your cheeks really swollen, I’m not exactly sure what does.

North Devon, England…Where I lived this summer!

So my life right now consists of figuring it out….whatever that it may be. But in the mean time, I am still really focused on travel and health/wellness, so that’s definitely the direction my life and this blog is going to take!

So you would believe the previous picture was actually England…there were some telephone booths nearby.

Now, I might take the plunge and try to self host…..so I’ll probably not post again until I figure that out….which probably will be in 2015.

I haven’t been keeping up with the blog for a multitude of reasons. A few being that I’ve made some living changes, gone on a few trips to other cities, picked up teaching private lessons, all of which have left me with not too much free time. The main reason, however, is that I haven’t really felt like posting another blog post about a cool city I visited or how awesome living abroad is. Because sometimes, living abroad really isn’t that awesome.

So here it goes; my first post that doesn’t make my life seem like a fairytale. If you follow me on Instagram, it looks like a float around, trying new foods, drinking lots of wine and exploring European cities, which is true. But what I don’t post about is the times where I am struggling at the police station to get my residency card, or the times I am sprinting for the bus to commute to work in the rain, or the times where I head out into the city and realize it’s the siesta so everything is closed. Those times are what I like to call The Spain Struggle. I think The Spain Struggle has become more evident lately, as my honeymoon stage with Spain is officially over. The glamour of living abroad has worn off and I’ve quickly realized that living abroad is very different from traveling abroad.

Somebody posted this picture in the Auxiliares de Conversacion Facebook group under a discussion thread about “How to Battle Homesickness”, and I instantly realized I was living this picture:

If you every talked to me before I left for my trips, I had so many ups and downs it was uncountable. One day, I would be so excited for Spain and the next I was thinking “What the hell am I doing?”. Then, I arrived and Bilbao and it was amazing! New friends, new foods, cheap wines, traveling, the beach, etc…what could be better? I was in the honeymoon stage, and it lasted a solid month. What a great month it was! I went to Vitoria, San Sebastian, Paris (will write about it soon) and even wrote about my favorite things about Basque Country! So what’s my problem now? Why am I out of the honeymoon stage?

Well, it’s because the first month, I felt like a tourist. For me, traveling has always been a short term thing, knowing I was going to arrive back home in Ohio after “x” amount of days/weeks. While I did move away for college, I was only an hour and a half from home, so I could easily drive home for the weekend, or even night, if I wanted to. But here, I am across the Atlantic ocean, in another country. I can tell I’m experiencing culture shock because suddenly, I feel more American than ever. I want peanut butter and a coffee to go and jimmy johns to deliver and soy milk…..

Anyways, The Spain Struggle is definitely real, but I’ve learned the best way to combat it is to think of everything as less of a struggle and more of an adventure. Maybe I did have to go out of my way to San Sebastian to get my NIE card, but I also discovered an adorable cafe and spoke with the barista (in Spanish!) who encouraged me to move to San Sebastian this summer. I’ve also learned that while it is important to try to adapt to the other culture, it is okay to have days where I just want to watch Netflix, in English, all day and only talk to my American friends and hug people when I meet them instead of doing the “European kissing both cheeks” thing. Like everything else in life, adaptation takes time and is a process.

Thankfully, I do have American friends here in Bilbao that make me feel like everything I’m feeling isn’t crazy, and my friends and family at home in Ohio are amazingly supportive and make me feel like I never left when I speak with them. Even though some days feel like I’m taking two steps back and one step forward, I am learning to embrace the set backs and just allowing myself the time I need to adapt. I guess that’s one thing I have in common with Spaniards, giving myself as much time as I need. They always say here “calm” or “don’t worry”. So I guess in some ways, I’m adapting to the culture more than I think :)

Who is Wanderlust Kait?

I'm a 23 year old recent college graduate! I got my first taste of Europe and traveling in May, when I backpacked Europe and visited 8 countries and 15 cities in 27 days. I now live in Bilbao, Spain and teach high school English. I use my weekends and breaks to travel to new places around Spain and Europe. I studied nutrition in college and also blog about health & wellness while living abroad and traveling!

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